


Regarding Friends

by astracrits



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Dedue Molinaro - Freeform, Dedue Molinaro-centric, Dedue Week (Fire Emblem), Deduesday, F/M, GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW CUTE THIS IS LMAOOO, i had so much fun writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22162732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astracrits/pseuds/astracrits
Summary: Could he say that he had any friends? Talking to people was required because he was always with Dimitri, but what assured him there were people he could genuinely call his friends? For Dedue week, prompt 3 - Friends
Kudos: 18





	Regarding Friends

“So, that’s why I proposed we did all those things!” Mercedes’s happy voice was like a soothing tune that could make you forget about any worry you had. It felt quite nice.

Except for Dedue, who seemed to have a growing headache the more he listened to her. What had she said at all? He couldn’t hear most of what she said. “Mercedes… what?” Not wanting to make her feel sad, he added, “I don’t think we would have the time to do all you proposed. With what our classes and training.”

Mercedes nodded, cupping her cheek with her hand. She really wanted to do something with Dedue, as she had seen the taller man look more stressed than lately. That mission they had been on was rough and it was clear it shook Dedue to his core. “Hmm… No, I just cannot do nothing.” She had a frown on her face, very uncharacteristically of her.

Honestly, he didn’t want to do anything that he didn’t need to. His mood hadn’t been the best lately, and things only seemed to pile on him. It was tiring, to say the least, but Dedue couldn’t bring himself to say anything, lest someone mocked him or call him weak.

Unable to stay there any longer, Dedue vowed at Mercedes. “I’ll be taking my leave now, goodbye, Mercedes.”

“No!” The older girl grabbed his arm. Was she that desperate to get Dedue to do something? “I--I’ve got an idea! We’re going to go cooking!”

“Cooking? Mercedes, I do not think we should--”

“Yes! That’s what we’re going to do today! If we don’t have time to do everything I had planned, then at least we’ll cook something together. I’ve always wanted to know more about the Duscur cuisine, heehee. Are there any sweets?”

Dedue was taken aback. He didn’t expect anybody that wasn’t from home to mention Duscur after the tragedy. Just thinking about him brought him sadness and a tingling sensation that was not good either. Why would Mercedes mention that? “Are you… mocking me, Mercedes? Truly you do not wish to learn about Duscur’s coking.”

At that, Mercedes giggled. Ever since she learned that Dedue was from that place, she always wanted to know what kind of food they ate. “I’m serious!” She pouted and frowned. “I truly want to learn from you! I’ve seen you cook multiple times and it’s not typical dishes from Fhirdiad so, it got me curious.”

And it was true. Dedue didn’t cook meals from the kingdom. The cookbook on his mind had recipes from all over because Dedue loved cooking, and he wanted to at least make a meal from everywhere. Duscur mostly, Fhirdiad, the Alliance, even from Enbarr, Almyra, Dagda and Brigid. From speaking to different people to small yet fruitful travels, Dedue had learned to cook so much. He never got the chance--or the need, to cook for someone else before, but perhaps after coming to the Academy, he would have his chance.

As he thought of the possibilities of him cooking with Mercedes, Dedue thought about his more important duties with Dimitri. Was there something he needed that would stop him from getting to cook? His majesty seemed to spend a lot of time at the library lately, and while that was one of the most secure places in the Monastery, Dedue felt that leaving him alone wasn’t a good idea.

“I... “ There was a lot of hesitation pooling in him. He doubted the whole idea, mostly because Dedue didn’t learn how to make too many desserts, but also because he wasn’t sure he wanted to share what he learned with Mercedes.

“I’m sure what you need is a nice day off with your friends.”

Friends. That’s exactly the word that rang on Dedue’s head. He didn’t consider anybody in the Blue Lions house as his friends, given how some of them despised him because of the tragedy everybody knows about. He was just a man from Duscur sitting off to the side of the classroom he shared with the others. There was no time for friends for him. Protecting the future king was his sole purpose in life, there was no time to dilly dally with the people at the academy.

But having heard that word, he knew. His whole world wasn’t black and white, as he seemed to look at it most of the time. There wasn’t only Dimitri and his duty, there wasn’t only his professor, Byleth, and the other students. They were more than just people he shared a school house with.

_ They were his friends. _

“Friends, huh?” Still, the word felt so foreign on Dedue’s lips, like he wasn’t meant to say that. And maybe he wasn’t, after all, he hadn’t had a lot of opportunities to get to know the others, not apart from the basic stuff he needed to know. Like how Mercedes was the oldest of the students at the Academy, or how Sylvain flirted too much to cope with the bad stuff in his life, or how that girl Dorothea from the Eagle’s house used her flirting as a means of protection too.

It was all stuff that meant Dedue was not intending to be friends with anybody there. Yet at the same time, they all seemed to flock to him--except for a certain obnoxious blue-haired youth. Why?

“Yes, we are friends, aren’t we Dedue? You saved me from a sword fighter the other day.”

“I did, but that was only me doing my job at the battlefield, Dimitri wouldn’t bear it if something happened to you.”

“Oh, but it wasn’t just that! Remember how I forgot one of my feather pens in my room and professor Byleth gave us a test? You gave me one of yours!”

It was true. That day, everybody was panicking because of the pop-quiz Byleth gave her students. Dedue had given a feather pen to both Mercedes and Sylvain, and helped Annette fix the configuration of a rune that would come on the quiz. He even gave some of his answers to Ingrid, who seemed to struggle a little with the part about herbal properties.

“I did, you ended up acing that test.”

“And it was all thanks to you because you let me stay with you at the greenhouse to study!” Mercedes was looking so happy as she remembered that day. She and Dedue spent it tending to the garden and talking about making a new blend of tea with what was there. “So you see, Dedue, we are friends!”

At that instant, Mercedes went to hug Dedue. It was another foreign feeling, but more extreme than last time. He stood there, unable to do something, he couldn’t even look at Mercedes’s hair flapping on his face. What was that made Dedue feel that way? That he couldn’t cherish what was happening, share Mercedes’s feelings? Part of him was sure that she was telling the truth, that she could be considered a friend.

He dug into his mind. He could recall other times he spent with her, like the time Mercedes dragged him, Caspar and Hilda out to a picnic at the hills near the Monastery. They spent such a good time together, where they were all laughing because of Caspar’s misadventures with a supposed thief.

That wasn’t the only time he hung out with other people, there were more. He  _ had friends. _

Unconsciously, Dedue ended up hugging Mercedes as well, though he retreated the moment he realized. “Oh, I’m sorry.” There was a growing blush on his face, something he hadn’t experienced in a long while. “I realized, though, that what you said is true. You and I really are friends.” He smiled, feeling something new inside of him. Genuine joy.

“I’m so happy!” Mercedes’s smile couldn’t be bigger and warmer.

“I am too. I would be honored if we cooked together, friend.”

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to follow me on Twitter @legion_scatter and on tumblr @astra-crits (where I have most of my content) if you want to see more of my writings! I'm so honored to be participating in Dedue week! :D


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